A young boy survived eight days alone in the Kruger National Park surrounded by lions and elephants after being separated from his family.

Alex Mboweni, 12, astonished rescuers by fending for himself for so long, drinking from waterholes shared by wild animals.

He became separated from his family after they ran from border guards while crossing from their native Mozambique into Limpopo province in north east South Africa.

"I got lost and never thought anyone would find me alive. I did not know where I was or where to go and when the sun went down on the first day I sat next to an anthill to keep warm," he said.

"I was really scared at night as I heard wild animals making lots of noise. I heard lions roar in the night and other animals making noises. I was very scared.

"I was so glad to see the sun come up and I was thirsty but I couldn't see any water for the next two days. On the third day I was really weak and I thought I was going to die but I kept walking until I suddenly found the river.

"As I was drinking the water a huge elephant came charging at me so I ran away again. For the next few nights I slept on the anthill and went to the river once in the day to drink some water but I felt myself getting weaker and weaker."

The boy's father went to a police station in the border town of Saselamani to say his son was lost in the bush. A search was then mounted by police and the family in the area where he had last been seen.

"After eight days I was too weak to walk to the river and I lost all hope. But then I heard the voice of my mother calling my name, said Alex.

"The voices echoed down the rivers and the valleys so I managed to get closer to where I heard the voice calling my name and it was real, it was my mother calling me."

A police spokesman said: "After his father told us Alex was lost in the park we went with him and his mother to look for his son.

"We told his mum to climb on top of a hill and call his name. She climbed up the hill and called her son's name five times and on the sixth shout, Alex appeared.

"I thought he must have been eaten by lions and it was only a million to one chance that he would be alive. I couldn't believe my eyes when he came out of the bush."

South Africa shares a 400-mile border with eastern neighbour Mozambique, more than half of which is the massive Kruger National Park which itself covers 7,000 sq miles and is a favourite with British tourists. It has nearly 150 species of animals including lions, cheetah, leopard, hippo, buffalo, zebra, rhino and elephants.

Tens of thousands of Mozambicans cross illegally into South Africa for a better life every year. The former Portuguese colony is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 172 out of 177 countries by the UN.